BOISTEROUS SPEECHES In the main event of the evening, Mrs. Trump gave a personal speech that detailed her growing up in Slovenia and praised her husband. “He is tough when he has to be, but he is also kind and fair and caring,” she said. Donald Trump had promised a “monumentally magnificent” display at the convention, and he didn’t disappoint as he emerged, Hollywood-style, through a fog to introduce his wife. “We’re going to win, we’re going to win so big,” he said. In more somber speeches, Republicans highlighted at length the deadly 2012 attacks on Americans in Benghazi, Libya, while Hillary Clinton, the presumptive Democratic nominee, was serving as secretary of state. Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani drew cheers from the crowd as he bemoaned racial divisions, in an impassioned speech. “What happened to ‘there’s no black America, there’s no white America, there is just America?'” he said, alluding to comments once made by President Barack Obama. Entertainers who took the stage included actor Scott Baio and Willie Robertson, star of Duck Dynasty.
TROUBLE ON THE FLOOR Earlier in the day, party divisions were exposed when delegates opposing Trump demanded a roll call vote to approve convention rules. Some delegates left the convention floor after the convention’s presiding officer, Arkansas Rep. Steve Womack, shut down the opponents by saying the rules had been approved by a voice vote. The opponents shouted “Call the roll, call the roll,” as Trump supporters and party loyalists chanted back “USA! USA!” The dissident delegates had earlier collected enough signatures on petitions to force a roll-call vote, but Trump supporters persuaded some delegates to remove their names.